What is PR?

What is PR? this is a question with a lot of different answers, as I have discussed in previous posts pinning a single definition to the area of PR has proven difficult over the years. L’Etang suggests that ‘Public Relations involves the communication and exchange of ideas to facilitate change’. Whereas The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) explains that “public relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.” There are differing opinions of what PR is throughout the academic literature. Many critics accuse PR of being spin or fluff, a tool used to pull the wool over the publics eyes and deem it an unnecessary venture. However I feel that the PR practitioners working for international cooperations with their seat firmly set in the boardroom, earning six-figure sums, would beg to differ. 

When we look back at the history of PR it is closely linked to Propaganda and this where some of the unrest surrounding PR stems from. Harrison discusses the origins of propaganda, ‘The word itself  originated in the Roman Catholic Church of the Seventeenth century, when the Congregation of the Propaganda was formed.’ The congregation were in charge of converting unbelievers on behalf of the church. Their role was based heavily on persuasion. Goebbels was the lead Nazi Propagandist in Hiltler’s Germany in the 1930’s and he used propaganda for power and social control. Due to the manipulation of the truth used historically in propaganda it is typically regarded with disbelief and distrust. Because of PR’s close link with propaganda and it’s negative connotations many people believe PR to be a waste of time. 

In my opinion PR is largely based on communication, and this is a skill we all value. Without good communication skills we would find everyday life a lot more difficult, PR is merely communicating to a larger audience typically on behalf of someone else. This does not mean PR has to be considered any less trustworthy than the communication you have with your flatmate or your mum! 

Today people have access to information from all over the world thus the ‘social control’ element of propaganda is no longer such a threat. It is harder to lie to a nation that can access information through hundreds of channels without getting up off of the sofa. 

This does not mean I am naive enough to think that we are always told the whole truth, I simply think that PR should be a way of communicating not brainwashing.